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Lens: Zeiss Luminar 63mm f/4.5

Vintage: 1960's

Lens Mount: RMS

Needed Adapters: I use and RMS to T-mount adapter and a camera specific T-mount
adapter . Easy to find on eBay.

Preferred Mounting: Normal, not reversed

Filter Thread: None

Street Price: $500-$1500 in good used condition. Prices vary a lot online, shop around.

Controls: Aperture setting

Aperture: 12 blades

Basic Function: Requires a bellows to set focus and magnification

Aperture# f/number
1 f/4.5
1.5 f/5.2
2 f/6.3
3 f/7.1
4 f/9
8 f/13
16 f/18
Extension Magnification Working Distance
adapters 1.32 55 mm
25 mm 2.05 45 mm
5 cm 2.57 38 mm
9 cm 3.69 35 mm
13 cm 4.82 33 mm
19 cm 6.54 31 mm
Est. Focal Length: 62.8 mm

Appearance:

luminar 63mm top view luminar 63mm side view

aperture graphResolution vs. Aperture:

This lens is at its sharpest at the largest aperture, f/4.5.

The most detailed aperture is f/4.5.

These are both pretty good for the focal length.

corner sharpness graphCorner Sharpness vs. Aperture:

The corner sharpness isn't the greatest attribute of this lens. At the sharpest aperture, the corners are noticeably fuzzy. To improve the sharpness in the corners an increase to the number 2 setting on the aperture (f/6.3) improves things significantly at lower magnification.

resolution graphSharpness and Resolution vs. Magnification:

This lens produces sharp and detailed images across the macro magnification range.

The corner sharpness is not so hot at f/4.5, but does improve as the magnification rises.

performance:sharpness graphPerformance: Sharpness vs. Magnification:

I have 4 lines that represent levels of performance from outstanding (top) to fair (bottom). This shows where this lens fits into the hierarchy that I have created.

The Luminar 63mm shows sharpness performance that generally stays in the very good range across the tested magnifications.

performance:resolution graphPerformance: Resolution vs. Magnification:

I have 4 lines that represent levels of performance from outstanding (top) to fair (bottom). This shows where this lens fits into the hierarchy that I have created.

The Luminar 63mm shows resolution performance that varies from outstanding at the low-end to good at the high-end of its magnification range.

resolving power graphResolving Power vs. Magnification:

This graph represents the smallest details that are able to be resolved by this lens at various magnificaitons. If the number doesn't get smaller as the magnification rises, there is little benefit to going up in magnificaiton with this lens. This situation is also called empty magnification.

Good resolution, compatible with f/4.5.

lateral CA graphChromatic Aberration:

This lens show minimal color fringing in the center (about 0.02 - 0.15 pixel) and pretty severe on the periphery (about 0.20%).

There is mild axial CA on out-of focus details(see image below) as shown by a slight maroon/purple fringe on the left and a slight green fringe on the right of the image.

Longitudinal CA:

axial CA

Image Contrast: Image contrast is OK, but not great.

Flare: This lens does shows quite a bit of flare, probably associated with the age of the lens and old lens coatings. The flare is more of a general loss in contrast. It can be improved by putting dark material around the object being photographed to limit bright reflections. I use a small piece of velvet.

Distortion: This lens shows no significant distortion during testing.

Image Samples:

About 1.6:1 magnification, f/4.5, focus stack of 24 images, resized:

sample image

crop imagePixel level crop from the image above:

There is very good pixel level detail, no problems.

About 3.2:1 magnification, f/4.5, stack of 21 images, resized:

sample image

crop imagePixel level crop from the image above:

There is good pixel level detail, no problems.

Conclusion:

This is a bellows lens that performs well although its age does show on a couple of counts. This lens is typically pretty expensive, more so than most other bellows lenses. The sharpness and resolution are very good across the magnification range. The field is not particularly flat, but does improve with a slight increase in the aperture or magnification. The good news is that the small increase in aperture doesn't cause a major loss of sharpness or resolution. The lateral chromatic aberration is pretty severe across the board and there is minimal longitudinal CA present on out-of-focus details. The contrast is not particularly good, at least partially related to flare. This can be improved by masking the areas around the photographed object with dark fabric or paper. Working distance is good.

Overall this lens performs well, but it is expensive, has quite a bit of CA, and lowish contrast. A lot of these issues are related to the age of the lens, newer ones may be better although I have yet to test one. If I were looking for a lens in this focal length range, I would stick to a decent enlarging lens - comparable performance, much less expensive.